After a 1-3 start to their season, the Cleveland Browns have decided to go in another direction with their quarterback room. Veteran Super Bowl champion Joe Flacco is being benched for rookie Dillon Gabriel. This makes some people wonder what the future looks like for QB3 Shedeur Sanders, who won’t have the opportunity to show what he’s made for yet.
Those in the Sanders camp probably hoped that the decision to bench Flacco would come later down the road, or maybe not at all this season, giving Sanders more time to show he was the right choice to back up the veteran. Alas, the decision came early in the year, and the Browns still consider the former Oregon gun slinger their QB2.
In the press conference after the announcement, Dillon Gabriel made it clear he’s ready to take advantage of the situation regardless of whether the context is perfect or not:
“You wait for the perfect time, you’re gonna wait a whole lifetime”
“You wait for the perfect time, you’re gonna wait a whole lifetime” pic.twitter.com/0kUGzV1Kal
— Cleveland Browns (@Browns) October 1, 2025
However, this doesn’t have to mean a dead end for Deion Sanders’ son. There’s always a possibility that Gabriel won’t pan out as a starter either, and that the Browns will be forced to try their third quarterback. Some would say that’s the exact reason why they drafted two quarterbacks in this year’s draft: To give themselves a bit of maneuvering space when it comes to deciding who their starter is going to be in the long run.
Others would say that this lack of commitment to one path is exactly what has made Cleveland such an underperforming franchise throughout the years.
How do Dillon Gabriel’s college numbers shape up against Shedeur Sanders’s?
Dillon Gabriel threw 18,722 yards through his entire college career, with 155 touchdowns and 32 interceptions. That was through three seasons at UCF (Two as a starter), two at Oklahoma, and one at Oregon. His completion percentage was 65.2%.
Shedeur Sanders only spent two seasons at the FBS level, having been at Jackson State before. Which is why his numbers are much lower than Gabriel’s: with 7364 passing yards, 64 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions in two seasons with Colorado. His completion percentage was 71.8%.
Comparing two so dissimilar careers by total numbers would seem like the wrong way of going about the problem. When one compares their last season at the college level, a more direct analogy starts to emerge. Sanders threw for 4134 yards, with 37 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His completion percentage was 74%. Gabriel, for his part, had lower numbers, with 3857 passing yards and 30 touchdowns, but only six interceptions. His completion percentage was slightly higher, at 72.9%.
There’s a final argument to be made for Gabriel’s preeminence over Sanders. He has seen far more action at the top level, and his numbers could be considered more impressive in his last season because he was playing in a top-two conference in the Big Ten, while Sanders was in the weakest power conference in the Big 12.
Read more:
Shedeur Sanders’ Hilarious Silent Interview Goes Viral After Browns Announce New Starting QB
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